Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1887-10-08
THE SECRET OF MS CRIME.


Day that must be Eradicated.
Il have great deal of sympathy for that
boy up there in Jail" said leading citizen of
Vassslboro to Journal man yesterday.
why is that?"
swell the boy has never had the care and
attention he should have received.
He has grown something
like 'Topsy'. He isn't the worst
hearted boy in the world by any means. The
trouble is, he has as he says read these dime
novels from very early age, and. as a result,
his distinctions between right and wrong have
become terribly perverted. And it is pecu-
liar thing that those who should have been
the very ones to have felt an interest in the
moral welfare of the boy, have sent him
this very kind of literature"
"Did he have many of
these novels at the seminary"
Eyes quite number. Soon after he came
there Mr.. Jones noticed him reading during
the church service. He came along to him
aud asked "what are you reading Georgie?"
and the boy showed him one of these yellow
covered dime novels. Mr.. Jones asked him
if he had any more books Of that kind and
he said yes few more. search of his
room revealed FIVE other books of the same
mail to him which were said to be sent BY
his sisters"
"Did the boy act in such a way as to be
considered hard character at all p
mo. He was very quiet, and gave no
evidence of being particularly bad boy"
Here is the secret of the strange action of
this young boy. 1t is the same cause which
has started too many young and imaginative
boys forth into criminal lives. The papers
chronicle the crimes, but as vet no very
strong effort has been made to eradicate the
cause. 1t is certainly to be questioned wheth
err the provisions of the first amendment to
the constitution foIbidding Congress 70 make
any law "abridging the freedom of the press"
contemplated any such abuse of the printing
art this. In the language of Judge Thomas
NJ. Cooley ''The liberty of the press may be
defined to be the liberty to utter and publish
whatever the citizen msy choose, and to be pro-
tected against legal censure and punishment in
so doing. provided the publication is not so far
injurious to pablc morals or to private repu-
tation as to be condemned y the common
law standards"
If there il anything which is more injur ous
to the 'spublic morals" than the publication
and dissemination of dime literature it is
yet to be discovered 1t works upon the
minds of young and susceptible boys with
terrible effect. The moral sense is dulled;
and distinctions between right and wrong are
lost. The criminal element of society fur
nishes the heroes and heroines of such books,
and the young minds that imbibe this moral
poison soon learn to have
a genuine admiration for
men whose hideous crimes shock the
moral world. This growing evil is one that
strikes at the very foundations of society ard
is all the more dangerous because its influ
ence is underhand and subtle. We
venture to say that Satan when
"squat like a toad close to the
ear of Eve. was not more dangerous teach
er for her, than the pages ola fashy, crime
landing novel for the inexperienced mind of
growing boy. We fight against the liquor
traffic because it takes away the manhood of
our men. We should contend with equal
vigor against the publication and sale of lit
erature that undermines the morals of our
boys, and sends them forth to swell the Grim
lnal classes. The world is full of such ex
amples. Parents who neglect to know
what their children are residing and whether
the tenor of it is to turn the young minds in
the right dire ton are making a grave mis-
/ t.kC.
In attempting to counteract the effect of
cheap literature upon the minds of growing
| children, many excellent people have gone to
| the opposite extreme, and produced what was
| formerly known as the 'Sunday School book"
a publication as morbid and unreal as the
dime novel is f1ashy and sensational. Most
every one has read these "Sunday
School books" We recall to
mind a collection which was bought
as "librsry." and stll reposes in the ar
chives of certain country church There
was always remarkable similarity in the
characters. They were ALWAYS good. They
stood out wonderfully against the temptations
of lite. sat up nights and read tracts,
gathered all the bad children around them
INTO the Sunday school, and if they grew up
became missionaries, but if they died young
were buried under a tombstone with carved
| " hlta lamb, which was ever after pointed out
with reverence by the people who had known
| the good little boy or girl. These characters
were unreal Children are not born saints
and it is no wonder that the little ones who
read such publications as these felt as if the
characters in them must have lived great
ways off in some kind of celestial at
mos phere very different from ANYTHING they
themselves had ever known. What kind Of
reading is this TO place before young
people who are boiling over with exubersnt
life? Is it surprising that they find such
reading positively nauseating and fall to
wondering if any such good little child ever
lived, and. if he did, what whi,e-livered,
pale checked, ethereal looking specimen he
must have been. There Is no doubt but
what literature of this kind has driven many
children into the surreptitious reading of the
more exciting pages of dime novels. IT is
only within a comparatively short period
that the public have appreciated this fact
and have seen that the character that wins
the affections of a young person must be
real human character-such a one as we
would expect to see in every day life.
There must be tinge of excite
ment to hold the young readers
interest, and underlying all strong, manly,
moral tone. which shall teach the distinctions
between right and wrong and turn the young
mind of the reader into healthy channels.
Some talented writers are now engaged in
this work. If parents will supply their chill
dren with the stories of J. T. Trowbridge,
T. n,N.4 ar,ht Mas